This article contains spoilers for episode 7 of Survivor 45, which aired on Nov. 8.
If someone is targeted as an advantage-finding threat on Survivor, but they don’t locate one, making a fake one to fuel paranoia is a common and sometimes game-saving move.
But, to pull it off, they probably should have it with them at all times. And that’s exactly what “Sifu” Alsup failed to do ahead of his ousting on Survivor 45 on Wednesday night.
Sifu, whose real name is Nicholas, is a 30-year-old martial arts instructor from O’Fallon, Illinois, and unfortunately for him, he returned home one spot away from conquering his dream of making season 45’s Jury.
In the seventh episode, titled “The Thorn in my Thumb,” Sifu and the 11 other castaways finally joined together as Dakuwaqa — Survivor 45’s merged tribe. But Sifu’s exit came after another twist in the game separated the players into two groups of six, with each squad attending Tribal Council separately.
Sifu was grouped up with Drew Basile, his former Reba tribemate, as well as four other players he had barely built a relationship with: Emily Flippen, Bruce Perreault, Kellie Nalbandian, and Kendra McQuarrie.
After Kellie won the Blue team’s Immunity, Sifu’s chances of being sent home pre-Jury were one in five. But, when they got to the beach, it was clear Sifu was a primary target.
Sifu had a reputation of being a wild card and someone who was constantly scrounging around on the lookout for Hidden Immunity Idols and advantages — think two-time Survivor winner Tony Vlachos. Unlike Tony, Sifu was unsuccessful in finding anything.
Many believed he potentially had an Idol, which was only fueled by a fake Idol he made and introduced earlier in the game to some former Reba members. And he was ready to bust it out again in hopes of shifting the target.
There was one problem, however. He left it in his bag at the merged tribe beach. As part of the group twist, Sifu’s crew was immediately sent to Lulu’s old camp to await Tribal Council. Sifu was later voted out unanimously without his bag in hand.
When he spoke with Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross in an interview published on Nov. 9, Sifu admitted that not bringing his belongings to the Immunity Challenge was a mistake on his part.
“I know this is going to be all over the internet when I say this, but I also did not bring my bag,” Sifu said. “And so that was the defining moment in my game because I didn’t bring my bag either, and I had my fake idol in that bag, which I would’ve played. Whether it worked or not, it still would’ve been another piece of information that could have really, really excelled my game. So that’s definitely something I reflect on.”
Sifu said that he would’ve brought the fake Idol to Tribal Council while making it known that he was going to play it no matter what. We saw Sifu targeting Bruce during the episode, and he confirmed that if he had it, he would’ve used the fake Idol to persuade the others to write Bruce’s name down instead. “I think my name still would’ve came up, but at least it would’ve been way better of a fight,” Sifu said.
Fortunately, the martial artist is taking the potentially game-ending blunder as an opportunity to learn and grow. “Yeah, I definitely will reminisce on that for a little while, but I never sour from those things,” Sifu said. “I just learn from them. It’s a preparation, be prepared in life, have everything you need, and move forward.”
Sifu said his sneaking around made him an easy target
Sifu was the biggest target on Reba from the get-go after he was caught spying. The move, which Sifu admitted was also about having fun on Survivor, proved costly. The power alliance between Drew, Austin Li Coon, Dee Valladares, and Julie Alley targeted Sifu early after painting him in a mischievous light.
“So Drew and Austin, when they were looking for stuff, they were like, ‘Oh, Sifu probably did this or that,’ Sifu said. “It just made it easy to be like, ‘Hey, he’s doing this, he’s doing that. He already was sneaking around.’ I was listening into certain conversations and having a blast, being a big kid, but listening in trying to get pertinent information. And it did turn out to be a suspicion, but I think that they painted the target on me because it was an easy target and they could run with it. I didn’t understand it because I was loyal and I would’ve been a strong number, but that’s how it rolls.”
Luckily for Sifu, the original Reba never went to Tribal Council. And when he went to his first voting ceremony after the tribe swap (and was seemingly the person about to be voted out), Sean Edwards quit.
Regardless, Sifu’s time on Survivor 45 ended on day 14 right before the Jury opened up, and he placed 12th overall. Kaleb Gebrewold was voted out at the second Tribal Council that night, so episode 8 will feature the 10 remaining hopefuls being whittled down to a single-digit number.